Second pillar: Apostleship

Abraham, friend of God, loved not the things That set; and lo, his footprint was a guide To all successive prophets.

He, the sign And witness to the everlasting Lord, Yearned in his heart for a Community,

And from his sleepless eyes the flood of tears Unceasing flowed until the message came, Cleanse thou My House

Then for our sake he made A desert populous, and founded there A temple whither pilgrims might process.

And when the stem of turn thou unto us Burst into bud, the tillage of our Spring Took visible shape

God fashioned forth our form And through Apostleship breathed in our flesh The soul of life.

We were a word unvoiced Within this world, that by Apostleship Became a measured verse;

and that same grace Both shaped our being, gave us Faith and Law,

Converted our vast myriads into one, And joined our fractions in a mighty whole Inseparable, indivisible.

He, who is pleased to guide whomso he will, Made of Apostleship a magic ring To draw around us;

the community A circle is, whose great circumference Centers on Makkah’s valley

and by force And virtue of that same relationship Stands our community unshakable, Tidings of mercy to the world entire.

Out of that sea we surge, nor break apart Like scattering waves;

its people, closely fenced Within the ramparts of that holy soil, Roar loud as jungle lions.

If thou look To prove the truth that lies within my words, Gazing with Abu Bakr’s veracious eyes,

The Prophet, power and strength of soul and heart, Becometh more beloved than God Himself.

His book is reinforcement to the hearts Of all believers; through his wisdom flows The lifeblood of the whole community;

To yield his garment’s hem is death – the rose So withers at the blast of Autumn’s wind.

His was the breath that gave the people life; His sun shone glory on their risen dawn.

In God the individual, in him Lives the community, in his sun’s rays Resplendent ever;

his Apostleship Brought concord to our purpose and our goal.

Is unity which when it is mature, Forms the community; the many live

Only by virtue of the single bond. The Muslim’s unity from natural faith Derives

and this the Prophet taught to us, So that we lit a lantern on Truth’s way.

This pearl was fished from his unfathomed sea, And of his bounty we are one in soul.

Let not this unity go from our hands, And we endure to all eternity.

God set the seal of holy Law on us, As in our Prophet all Apostleship Is sealed.

The concourse of unending days Is radiant in our lustre; he was Seal To all Apotles, to all People we.

The service of Truth’s winebearer is left With us; he gave to us his final glass.

No Prophet after me is of God’s grace, And veil the modest beauty of the Faith Muhammad brought to men.

The people’s strength All rest in this, that still the secret guards Of how the Faith’s Community is one.

Almighty God has shattered every shape Carved by imposture, and for evermore Stitched up the sacred volume of Islam.

The Muslim keeps his heart from all but God And shouts abroad, No people after me.